HBO's Game of Thrones Season Three 3. Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen- photo Keith Bernstein/HBO

Hugh Bonneville who is nominated for best actor in a TV drama series at the Primetime Emmy Awards 2013. Ian West/PA Wire

Homeland star Damian Lewis who is nominated for best actor in a TV drama series at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Claire Danes in "Homeland." Danes was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actress in a drama series on, Thursday July 18, 2013. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy ceremony will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. It will air Sept. 22 on CBS. (AP Photo/Showtime, Kent Smith)

House of Cards, which was commissioned exclusively for Netflix, has been nominated for nine awards including outstanding drama, best actor and best actress. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Dame Maggie Smith who is nominated for best supporting actress in a TV drama series for her performance in Downton Abbey at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Ian West/PA Wire

Toby Jones who is nominated for lead actor in a miniseries/movie for his performance in The Girl at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Cat Deeley who is nominated for best host of a reality show for So You Think You Can Dance at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Ian West/PA Wire

Kevin Spacey as U.S. Congressman Frank Underwood in a scene from the Netflix original series, "House of Cards." Spacey was nominated for an Emmy Award for best actor in a drama series on, Thursday July 18, 2013. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy ceremony will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. It will air Sept. 22 on CBS. (AP Photo/Netflix, Melinda Sue Gordon)

Last year the smash series, which put Northern Ireland on the television world's radar, took home six Emmy Awards for behind-the-scenes work.

Meanwhile Damian Lewis and Hugh Bonneville lead the British offering, both being nominated for best actor.

Lewis, who won the award for best actor last year, has been nominated again for his role as Sgt Brody in Homeland. Bonneville, also nominated in 2012, is up for the title again for his performance in Downton Abbey.

ITV drama Downton Abbey, which has proved a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, has received 12 nominations in total.

Other Brit nominees include Benedict Cumberbatch for Parade's End and Toby Jones for The Girl, who battle for the prize for lead actor in a miniseries/movie.

Dame Helen Mirren is shortlisted for the equivalent best actress prize for her performance in Phil Spector.

Another Downton star Jim Carter earns a place on the shortlist for supporting actor in a drama series, while Dame Maggie Smith from the same period drama series is up for the best supporting actress.

Cat Deeley picks up a nomination for best host of a reality show for So You Think You Can Dance while BBC co-production Top Of The Lake is listed for best miniseries or movie.

For the first time in the history of the awards, a TV series that has never been broadcast on television before has been nominated.

House of Cards, which was commissioned exclusively for Netflix, has been nominated for nine awards including outstanding drama, best actor and best actress.

The latest series of Arrested Development, also commissioned for Netflix, has received three nominations.

Michael Douglas, nominated for his portrayal of pianist Liberace, goes head to head with Behind the Candelabra co-star Matt Damon for the title of lead actor in a mini-series or movie.

The HBO single drama was originally commissioned for television after Hollywood bosses rejected the script because they thought the subject matter too ‘risky’ for general release at the box office.

HBO has become the most-nominated network for the 12th year in a row with 108 nominations.

The Primetime Emmy Awards take place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 22.

The full list of major nominations

Outstanding drama

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Mad Men

Outstanding Actress in a Drama

Connie Britton, Nashville

Claire Danes, Homeland

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Vera Farmiga, Bates Motel

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Kerry Washington, Scandal

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Actor in a Drama

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama

Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad

Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones

Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Morena Baccarin, Homeland

Christina Hendricks, Mad Men

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama

Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire

Jonathan Banks, Breaking Bad

Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Jim Carter, Downton Abbey

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Mandy Patinkin, Homeland

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama

Margo Martindale, The Americans

Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones

Carrie Preston, The Good Wife

Linda Cardellini, Mad Men

Jane Fonda, The Newsroom

Joan Cusack, Shameless

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama

Nathan Lane, The Good Wife

Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife

Rupert Friend, Homeland

Robert Morse, Mad Men

Harry Hamlin, Mad Men

Dan Bucatinsky, Scandal

Outstanding Comedy

30 Rock

The Big Bang Theory

Girls

Louie

Modern Family

Veep

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy

Laura Dern, Enlightened

Lena Dunham, Girls

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Jason Bateman, Arrested Development

Louis CK, Louie

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory

Jane Lynch, Glee

Julie Bowen, Modern Family

Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie

Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Adam Driver, Girls

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family

Ed O’Neill, Modern Family

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live

Tony Hale, Veep

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy

Molly Shannon, Enlightened

Dot-Marie Jones, Glee

Melissa Leo, Louie

Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live

Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy

Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory

Nathan Lane, Modern Family

Bobby Cannavale, Nurse Jackie

Louis CK, Saturday Night Live

Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

Will Forte, 30 Rock

Outstanding Reality Show Host

Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

Betty White, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers

Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway

Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance

Anthony Bourdain, The Taste

Outstanding Reality Show Competition

The Amazing Race

Dancing With the Stars

Project Runway

So You Think You Can Dance

Top Chef

The Voice

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series

The Colbert Report

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Real Time With Bill Maher

Saturday Night Live

Outstanding TV Mini-series or Movie

American Horror Story: Asylum

Behind the Candelabra

The Bible

Phil Spector

Political Animals

Top of the Lake

Lead actor in a TV Mini-series or Movie

Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra

Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra

Toby Jones, The Girl

Benedict Cumberbatch, Parade’s End

Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Lead actress in a TV Mini-series or Movie

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum

Laura Linney, The Big C: hereafter

Helen Mirren, Phil Spector

Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals

Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

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